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10 CAVALIER CORNER cavalier sports Photo by Matt Riley/courtesy UVA 4 ACC schools — including Virginia at No. 9 — earned a spot in the top 10 of the Learfield Directors' Cup final fall standings, released Jan. 12. The Cavaliers compiled 297 points — 73 from women's soccer (fifth-place national fin- ish), 69 from women's cross country's (ninth), 53 from field hockey (ninth), 52 from men's cross country (22nd) and 50 from men's soc- cer (17th). National Rank School Points 1. North Carolina 382.5 5. Syracuse 310.5 6. Pittsburgh 309 9. Virginia 297 14. Notre Dame 261 15. Florida State 258.5 18. Duke 244 21. Wake Forest 223 22. North Carolina State 216 23. Louisville 213 37. Clemson 139.5 120. Georgia Tech 50 154. Miami 25 Virginia Tech 25 " Elijah Gertrude has big-time physical traits and is someone who progressively got better during the summer. He averaged 11.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists in his 21 games this summer on Nike's EYBL Circuit. He has a lengthy and explosive frame with a quick first step and the pop to get above the rim in traffic. Tony Bennett has a reputation for getting the most out of his guards. Given Gertrude's late-blooming trajectory with continued development, there are a lot of possibilities." — On3 national basketball recruiting analyst Jamie Shaw on including UVA 6-3, 180-pound four-star point guard signee Elijah Gertrude (the No. 53 overall prospect in the country per On3) on his list of the "5 under-the-radar signings who could be college stars" 13th 13th Was where espnW HoopGurlz ranked UVA women's bas- ketball's 2023 recruiting class. The Cavaliers landed a pair of top-50 prospects, signing Charlottesville St. Anne's-Belfield School 5-foot-7 point guard Kymora Johnson and Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy 6-foot-2 guard Olivia McGhee, who spent the last three years at Mineral (Va.) Louisa County High. Johnson is listed as a five-star talent and the No. 24 overall player in the country, while McGhee checks in as a four-star recruit and the No. 45 overall prospect nationally. Johnson was tabbed as the 2022 Gato- rade Virginia Player of the Year after averag- ing 21.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 4.5 steals per game while leading her school to the state championship game last year. Most recently, Johnson was one of 24 high school girls basketball players selected to play in the 2023 McDonald's All Ameri- can Girls Game March 28 in Houston. McGee led Mineral (Va.) Louisa County High to the program's first Class 4 state championship her sophomore season, while averaging 22.8 points and 11.5 rebounds per game en route to being named the Central Virginia Girls Basketball Player of the Year. " Surprise, surprise, Tony Bennett's team is playing superb defense. The Cavaliers are 16th in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency. Though that's a bit lower than where they were during their recent heyday (from 2014-20 Virginia was ranked in the top seven in this category every year), this is also one of the better offensive teams Bennett has had. "The Cavs are 29th in the country in offensive efficiency, and they have five players who are shooting 38 percent or better from three. They're also one of five teams in the country that are ranked in both offensive and defensive free- throw rate, which could prove decisive in March. I also expect Virginia's two freshmen, 6-4 guard Isaac McKneely and 6-8 forward Ryan Dunn, to make strides as the postseason draws nigh." — The Athletic college basketball writer Seth Davis on including UVA among his "Magic Eight" (a group of eight teams from which he guaranteed that year's national champs would emerge) on Jan. 16, along with Alabama, Houston, Kansas, Purdue, TCU, Texas and UCLA 1 1 Active player in Division I collegiate men's basketball, through Jan. 26, had compiled 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds: Virginia fifth-year forward JAYDEN GARDNER. He had 2,180 points and 1,012 rebounds in 134 career games. " This is not a 'me' award. This is an 'us' [award]. When I look around and when I see that [2019 national championship] banner, that banner, that banner, I realize it's better than I deserve, and that's a result of these guys." — Men's basketball head coach Tony Bennett after notching his program-record 327th victory at UVA No. 1 No. 1 Ranking for the Virginia men's tennis team in the Intercollegiate Tennis Associa- tion NCAA Division I Men's Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll Jan. 4. The defending na- tional champion Cavaliers earned all 12 first-place votes to start 2023 where they ended last season. It marked the eighth time since 2006 that UVA has opened the season at No. 1, and the program has now reached the top of the rankings in 12 of the past 18 seasons (2006-23). The Cavaliers — who, through Jan. 26, had won 27 straight dual matches dating back to last season — return seven players from last year's championship team, los- ing only one member of its starting lineup.